Maximum Entropy is a 10/7-Approximation Algorithm for the TSP on Half-Integral Cycle Cut Instances

Abstract

One of the most famous conjectures in combinatorial optimization is the four-thirds conjecture, which states that the integrality gap of the Subtour LP relaxation of the TSP is equal to $\frac{4}{3}$. For 40 years, the best known upper bound was $1.5$, due to Wolsey. Recently, Karlin, Klein, and Oveis Gharan showed that the max entropy algorithm for the TSP gives an improved bound of $1.5 - 10^{-36}$. In this paper, we show that the maximum entropy algorithm is a $\frac{10}{7}$-approximation for half-integral cycle cut instances of the TSP. This class of instances contains examples which demonstrate the subtour LP has an integrality gap of at least $\frac{4}{3}$, as well as examples showing that the performance of the max entropy algorithm is no better than $\frac{11}{8}$. We note that the authors recently gave an algorithm upper bounding the integrality gap of this class of instances by $\frac{4}{3}$, so this work does not (and could not) provide an improved bound on the integrality gap. However, since there is no reason to believe that the analysis of the maximum entropy algorithm on general instances is tight, our work provides hope (and potentially direction) for improved analysis on other instance classes.